Then and now: The cast of 'Mad Men' on the show and their characters

By Nelson Branco

April 10, 2015

It’s the end of a TV era: Critically acclaimed and widely beloved
AMC series
Mad Men will air its bittersweet finale next month. As the last
episodes unspool, fans are speculating the fate of their favourite characters
while preparing to mourn the series' end.

“
It was like a funeral,” Elisabeth Moss described the last
day of shooting.

Created by
Sopranos producer and writer Matthew Weiner, the
sophisticated cable soap opera came along at the right time in the zeitgeist - not only did it give viewers another dark and relevant series to embrace after
Sopranos left the air waves just weeks before, but it also saved future star Jon Hamm’s fledgling acting career.

CLICK TO SEE WHAT THE CAST THOUGHT THEN AND NOW:
Jon Hamm as Don Draper in seasons 1 and 7.

“After decades
of struggling,
I was ready to quit acting and move away from Hollywood,”
a relatively unknown Jon told
Hello Canada back in 2007. “I was sick of
waiting tables. I had given myself a deadline to make it in Hollywood and I was
ready to throw in the towel, and then
Mad Men came along. When I read the
script, I thought it was so amazing and brilliant that I told Matt
I’d carry
garbage just to be a part of this TV series
. After 5 auditions, I got it. Which
was amazing because they were looking at big-name movie stars for Don.”

The bold and vivid series initially depicted the
changing
social mores of early 1960s America
when racism, sexism and corporate
propaganda ruled the day. Today, Don Draper and company find themselves in the
evolving '70s as the characters grapple with their individual and collective karma.

Hello Canada was lucky to interview the cast of Mad Men when the series debuted in 2007, and again this year as the final episodes drew close. We revisit what our favourite stars said then and now in homage to the series everyone is mad about.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR OUR GALLERY OF QUOTES FROM SEASONS 1 AND 7:

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